Fate
by hersheygal
Summary: Sawyer loves Kate, and Kate loves Jack. But Jack loves Juliet, at least, Jack thinks he does. Set after I Do. Jate. COMPLETE with Chapter 11!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: Ok another jate fic from me. I just can't help it. Anyways, I'm trying to do some angst since I've been doing fluff so much lately. Of course there will be fluff in this too though.

Kate sat on the beach. There were people mingling around her, but she didn't pay much attention to them. There was too much on her mind.

She and Sawyer had gotten back three weeks ago, and Jack and Juliet had come two weeks after. When Jack had come she couldn't help herself and she had ran to him and he let her hug him. But he didn't really hug her back. She sensed something was wrong with him.

Jack and Juliet spent a lot of time together. So Kate spent more time with Sawyer. Technically she was with Sawyer now and she should be happy. But she wasn't. Everyone was wary of Juliet at first, but now that it was a week later, everyone had accepted her. Everyone but Sawyer and Kate. Sawyer had told Kate that he was never going to trust any of the Others, and she agreed. She worried for Jack, because it seemed like they had a relationship, and Kate didn't want Jack to get hurt.

Kate glanced up the beach and spotted Jack talking to Claire. He was smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Jack hadn't been the same ever since they had gotten back, and she wondered if something had happened that he wasn't telling. She wasn't going to ask him though, they hadn't talked since he had gotten back. He was avoiding her, she knew it.

She stood up and decided to go talk to Jack, to just have a friendly conversation, but as she began walking Sawyer appeared next to her.

"Hey." Sawyer said.

"Hey."

"So we both know that Juliet chick is up to no good. How are we going to catch her in the act?"

"I don't know." Kate stopped and turned around, deciding that it was probably good that Sawyer had stopped her from going to Jack.

"Well we need to. Everyone is trusting her, except for us."

"We need to try to catch her in the act soon. Jack's falling for her." Kate averted her eyes from Sawyer.

Sawyer grinned. "I know. Kind of sad isn't it?"

Kate quickly looked at Sawyer again. "Don't you care about Jack at all? He rescued us! He could have died!"

"What's wrong Freckles?" Sawyer grabbed her arm.

Kate put a hand to her forehead. "I don't know. I think I just haven't really recovered from what we went through."

"Hey." Sawyer put his arms around her and she relaxed in his embrace. "We're gonna be all right. The Others said they would leave us alone."

Kate gave a small nod as she opened her eyes. She couldn't help but notice that Juliet was flirting with Jack only a couple of yards away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: thanks for the reviews!

Jack smiled as he watched Juliet laugh at his joke. At first he had been wary of Juliet, but after she helped rescue Kate and Sawyer, she became extremely nice to him and Jack realized that she was on his side. Soon after that Ben woke up and decided to let Jack go. So Jack was off that island and back on this one, but he didn't mind that much.

He almost didn't want to come back though. He knew it would be painful for him to watch Kate and Sawyer together, but at the same time, Juliet was there. That helped a lot. He had only talked to Kate once, and that was when he had first gotten back. He would never forget the look on her face as she had come running down the beach to him. He would never forget the smell of her hair and the feel of her body against his as they had hugged. But he knew that he had to let go of her. If she didn't love him, then he wasn't going to sit around wishing that she did. He avoided talking to her after that, and so far it had worked.

"So then I asked Ben why he had picked that book and.. Jack?"

Jack blinked and looked back at Juliet. "What?"

"Are you even listening?" Juliet grinned.

Jack smiled. "Sorry."

"Are you okay?" Juliet asked, concerned.

"Yeah." Jack looked past Juliet and saw Kate and Sawyer hugging down the beach. He sighed and got back to work. He was trying to fix the medical tent up.

"Hey." Juliet grabbed his arm and Jack looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jack shook his head and tried to break loose from Juliet's grip, but she wouldn't let go. Jack finally gave up and looked at her in the eye as she stood in front of him.

"Jack… I'm sorry about what happened. You know I am. I don't know what it's going to take to make you fully trust me, but I'm willing to do whatever it is."

"I trust you." Jack said.

"No you don't. You seem to always have something on your mind. Why don't you let me talk to you?"

Jack looked down. "I just have a hard time talking. That's all."

"Then don't talk." Juliet smiled and suddenly she was kissing him.

As they broke apart Jack smiled at her, but then he looked past her, and noticed Kate standing there staring at him a few yards away. She was alone. She quickly looked away and walked past his tent.

Jack sighed and Juliet watched Kate walk by and she looked back at Jack as she nodded. "I knew it. You love her don't you?"

"What? No!" Jack protested.

"I watched you two that day with the glass. You love her. She may not love you, but you sure love her. You need to forget about her Jack. She doesn't care about you. Don't you remember the cameras and the cages?" Juliet walked out and left Jack alone to his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews guys! They mean so much to me and I know that everyone's inboxes are filled with delayed alerts right now so it really means a lot that you took the time to review.

That night Kate and Sawyer sat before a fire that Sawyer had made. Sawyer had got some fish from Jin and now Sawyer was calling it a date.

"All we need now is some good wine." He had said.

Kate couldn't help but smile. Sawyer was being so sweet and loving to her. It was almost unbearable. It wasn't that she didn't love Sawyer. She really did. It was just that being away from Jack in those two weeks thinking that he was dead made Kate realize that she couldn't live without him. There was something missing when she was with Sawyer. She knew that Sawyer could feel it too, but she knew that Sawyer felt that they needed to stay together, so for the time being she went along with it.

Sawyer sat beside her with the cooked fish.

"Here ya go." He handed it to her as she smiled and took it.

Sawyer put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead as they started to eat.

"So I was thinking, we should go back to that waterfall we found."

"What?"

"Where you found your case." Sawyer reminded her.

"Okay." Kate agreed. "Why?"

"Wouldn't it be fun?" Sawyer grinned.

Hurley walked past them and stared at Sawyer.

"What are you looking at?" Sawyer asked harshly.

Hurley hadn't gotten used to Sawyer and Kate being together. He had always considered Kate to be Jack's girl, and it still seemed to Hurley that Jack felt that way as well, even though when he had talked to Jack, Jack had denied it, saying that Kate was happy so he was happy too. Hurley didn't believe it for a second, and he was planning to talk to Kate as soon as Sawyer would leave her alone.

"Nothing dude." Hurley shook his head and walked on.

Kate wondered why everyone thought it was so unnatural for Sawyer to act the way he was. Kate always knew he had this side to him, it just took a while for it to come out.

Kate watched Jack walk down the beach alone. It had hurt her when she had seen him and Juliet kissing, but it shouldn't have. Jack looked up and once again their eyes met before they quickly looked away.

"What do you think the Doc's up to now?" Sawyer had spotted Jack and Kate looking at each other.

"He's probably looking for Juliet." Kate said uncomfortably.

Jack _was_ looking for Juliet. He was planning on talking to her and apologizing. He realized that he needed Juliet. Juliet was being nice and caring and he loved that about her. There was something about Juliet that Jack was drawn to, and a part of him wondered if it was because she looked so much like Sarah, but he tried to forget about that.

He finally found Juliet talking to Sayid down the beach.

He approached them and Sayid greeted him.

"Hey." Jack said and looked at Juliet. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Juliet nodded and they walked away from Sayid into the jungle.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I really am. I know that you've done a lot and I appreciate it. I do care about you Juliet. I don't love Kate like you think. Kate's with Sawyer. That's fine with me. Kate and I have a past. I'm trying to work through it and I'll be fine."

Juliet nodded. She didn't really believe it but at the same time she really wanted Jack so she went along with it. "Okay. I believe you."

"So we're ok?" Jack smiled.

"Yep." Juliet took Jack's hand in hers. "You and I have been through a lot. I'd like to think that we can be together."

Jack nodded. "I'd like that."

Juliet smiled and kissed him. But as Jack kissed her back, he couldn't help but miss the touch of the woman he really loved.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner. I've been sick for the last couple of days, but I'm doing better now! Thank you for sticking with it! Anyways, there's some Charlie/Claire-ish stuff in this chapter. I hope you don't mind.

The next day Kate watched Jack and Juliet walk along the shoreline hand in hand, and she was almost tempted to grab Sawyer and do the same thing. But she chided herself for it. She knew that she was being childish. She just had to forget about Jack.

She stood up and walked over to Claire, Charlie, and Aaron, who were sitting in their tent.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hey." Claire smiled back.

"So can I sit here?" Kate motioned to the sand.

"Of course. So how are you doing Kate?" Claire asked.

"I'm doing ok."

"How's Sawyer?" Charlie asked with a hint of disgust in his voice.

Claire elbowed Charlie. "I'm sorry." Claire apologized.

"No it's all right." Kate smiled. "I know you all think I'm crazy for lo- for being with Sawyer." For some reason the word love got stuck in her throat. She tried not to think that it was because she didn't really love him.

"So what do you think about Jack and Juliet?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Charlie you're worse than a girl!" Claire reprimanded him.

" I think it great that Jack's found someone." Kate smiled. She was good at putting on fake smiles.

"Well that's good because I thought I saw Juliet in Jack's tent late last night." Charlie said.

"Really?" Kate tried to hide her jealousy. She knew that Charlie was watching her carefully. Between Charlie and Hurley she was never going to be with Sawyer in peace. They were determined to get Jack and Kate back together.

"Yeah."

"I don't remember that." Claire said.

"Well you were asleep." Charlie said.

Kate stood up. "Well it was nice talking to you. I'm glad your baby is growing to be such a happy boy."

Claire smiled apologetically." I'm glad we got to talk. I miss talking to you Kate."

Kate smiled and walked away.

"Did Juliet really go in Jack's tent last night?" Claire asked Charlie, because Claire had a hard time believing that Jack would fall for Juliet.

"No." Charlie grinned. "Are you kidding? Jack loves Kate. He's too heartbroken to go that far with Juliet."

"How do you know?"

"Well for starters, you and I have been together longer and you still won't let me in your tent at night."

Claire playfully slapped Charlie. "I have a baby. You know that's why."

"Right. Anyways, Hurley and I have a plan. Jack and Kate are too good together to not be together."

"Leave them alone Charlie. If they are meant to be together then it will happen."

"Oh that's right. You just believe that it's fate and that we're not supposed to mess with it. Well what if it's fate that Hurley and I get them together?" Charlie smiled mischievously at Claire, and Claire rolled her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: This is a short chapter, with no dialogue. But I hope you like it. A special thanks to **rlmont91 **and **Blue Panda **for reviewing! You guys are the best:)

Jack looked behind him again as he continued to walk further into the jungle. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to be alone. Everyone kept talking to him, wanting him to look at something, to help with something. At first he had welcomed it, thinking that he needed the distractions. But now he couldn't handle it anymore. It was hard to find some way to leave without someone knowing. Juliet watched his every move and she was starting to get on his nerves.

Jack started to think about his life before the island. All his life all he had wanted was for everything to go right. He wished that everything could have been simple. When they had crashed, meeting Kate had been the best thing that had ever happened to him, now he almost wished he never met her.

Jack finally decided that no one would find him where he was at and so he sat down on a log and looked at his surroundings. There was a lot of trees and brush around him and he liked that. Then he realized that he had no idea of how to get back. But then he wondered if anyone would care if he went missing.

_But of course they would miss me._ Jack thought almost bitterly. _All they want from me is my medical training. _

He blamed his dad for forcing him to become a doctor. When he had been young his dad told him that he didn't have what it took to be a leader, so Jack never did understand why his father had forced him into it. Jack hated himself, and the life that he had had. All the women he had loved always betrayed him or left him, and he knew that it was partly his fault. He hadn't been there for them, just like he hadn't been there for Kate.

Kate. Just thinking about her sent chills up his spine. He had ruined yet another relationship. Not that they had ever had one. Jack choked up as he began to think of Kate, the first time he allowed himself to think of her for more than a second or two. It was painful to think of her, but he couldn't help it now. Seeing her with Sawyer hurt him so much. He had tried to deny it, that he didn't care, but he knew deep down that he did. Letting her go with Sawyer was the toughest thing he had ever done, and he had thought that it would have been the last time he would have talked to her. He remembered the conversation they had over the radio before he was forced to finish the surgery. It had been a tearful goodbye, but now Jack realized that Kate really didn't love him back. He hadn't been prepared to go back, to face her, and now that he had been around her for a week, it was almost too much to bear.

He knew he was just going to have to deal with it, but he couldn't help but wonder if he and Juliet could go back to the Others, but at the same time he knew it was out of the question. Juliet had betrayed her friends, and even though they had had an agreement that they would leave each other alone, Jack knew that the Others didn't want anything to do with Juliet.

He sighed and tried to pull himself out of his miserable state, but he knew that there was no use. He knew he needed Kate, he missed her and loved her, but he also knew that she didn't feel the same.

A/N: The next chapter will have a jate fight. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot!

Kate had watched Jack disappear into the jungle. She knew he was trying to be secretive about it, and she knew that she was the only one that had seen him go. She smiled to herself. She hoped that he was going to have to time to himself, because he needed it. An hour later though, she became concerned when she still didn't see him.

She found herself going after him. She told herself it was because she was worried, and not because she missed him.

A while later she finally found him. Jack wasn't as good at hiding himself from everyone like he had thought. He hadn't even bothered trying to make his tracks discreet. She found him sitting on a log. He seemed to be deep in thought. She quietly walked away and hid in a bush, planning to talk to him when he stood up.

He got up a couple of minutes later and began walking back. He started out going in the right direction but soon Kate could tell that he was lost. She moved along side him from the trees.

Kate ran ahead and turned around so it would appear that she had just gone after him.

"Hey." Kate said.

Jack seemed surprised and he jumped back. "Where did you come from?"

Kate looked him over and saw that he looked horrible. Her heart ached to help him, but knew that he wouldn't ever accept her help.

"I was checking up on you. You're not as sneaky as you think." Kate said with a smile.

Jack grinned. "I wasn't trying to be sneaky."

"Yes you were."

Jack looked away as his smile vanished.

Kate realized that it was quickly getting awkward. This was worse then after they had kissed, and for a second Kate wondered if he knew about what Sawyer and Kate had done while they were with the Others. But there wasn't any way he could have found out, or was there?

"Admit it, you're lost." Kate forced herself to keep her smile.

"I'm not lost."

"Ok fine. You're not. I'll just let you find your own way back then." Kate turned around and started to walk away. She thought that Jack would call her back, but he didn't. She slowed down her pace and finally he did call her.

"Fine. I'm lost." Jack said reluctantly. His attitude had changed completely and there wasn't any trace of a smile even though Kate continued to.

"Okay. Let's go. You let yourself get out here pretty far. We need to hurry to get back in time." Kate looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting dark. "It's getting dark. And if I remember correctly, I think you once told me that you're afraid of the dark." Kate looked back at Jack with a grin, and he looked back at her. Still no smile. Kate turned around again.

They walked in silence for a few minutes but then Kate felt Jack grab her arm and Kate couldn't help but gasp.

"Kate, what are you doing?"

Kate turned around and Jack withdrew his hand from her arm.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play with me Kate. I'm done with your games."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kate stop acting like this! I know about you and Sawyer!" Jack raised his voice.

"What? How?" Kate stepped back, shocked.

"They had cameras! How could you have been that dumb? They saw it, I saw it. Okay so you love Sawyer. Fine. But I had to find out through a camera. Do you have any idea of how much that hurt me?"

Kate was trying hard not to cry now, and Jack seemed pretty close to tears as well.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kate asked in a whisper.

"Because I didn't want this to happen. Heck I thought that I wasn't going to see you ever again. At first it killed me to see you with him, and then I figured that it was better that way. You and Sawyer would get your happy ending, and I would never have to see it. I never thought that I would end up back here."

"Well I'm sorry for not coming to you first before I decided to be with someone that cared! Here I was, finally happy that someone actually gave me attention, someone who loved me for me and you're telling me I'm not allowed to?" Kate finally found her voice.

"Is that what you think? That I don't care about you?"

"You never act like it! You never have! You're too busy being the hero of the island!"

"Why do you think I came out here? I'm sick of everyone always wanting me to fix something. I can't handle it anymore!"

"You don't have to fix everything Jack." Kate gave him one final look. "Find your own way back."

Jack rolled his eyes, and he reached out to grab her, but then he quickly pulled back. If she wanted to run away again, then so be it.

Kate waited until she was far enough away from Jack before she burst into tears. She hadn't planned for it to do like this. All she wanted was for things to go back to normal with her and Jack, but now that Jack knew about her and Sawyer, there was no hope. Things would definitely be difficult from now on and Kate almost wished that Jack could go back to the other island. She quickly took that back though. Having to be around him now was better then not knowing if he was dead or alive. She actually decided that it was better to be mad at him rather than feel bad for being with Sawyer.

Speaking of Sawyer, she was grateful that she had him. He did love her, and if Jack would keep acting this way then she didn't need to trouble herself with him. She wiped her eyes before she continued towards the beach.

A few minutes later Kate heard some noise in front of her and Kate looked for something to defend herself with. She couldn't find anything so she just stood there waiting.

Juliet broke through the trees and stopped in front of Kate. "Oh hey Kate."

Kate wanted to find some way to wipe the grin off Juliet's face. "Hi Juliet." Kate matched Juliet's tone.

"Have you seen Jack?"

"He's back there some where." Kate motioned behind her, trying to act like she didn't care.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"I'm sorry Juliet but I don't really feel like talking to you right now." Kate said dryly and pushed past her.

Juliet smiled again and watched Kate walk past her. She hoped that Jack and Kate had had a fight. That was what they were going for. After Kate and Sawyer had left, Jack was reluctant to stay. He wanted to get off the island. So Ben and Juliet had to come up with some way to get Jack to want to stay with them. They decided to have Juliet and Jack go back to their island, where Jack would be forced to be around Kate. Once Jack had had enough, Juliet was going to suggest that they go back. And if that wouldn't work out, there was always plan B.

Juliet walked around and finally found Jack sitting down.

"Hey. I've been looking for you." Juliet gave him a bright smile.

Jack didn't make any move that suggested that he had heard her, so she tried again.

"Jack?" Juliet kneeled beside him and touched his arm.

Jack jumped and looked at her. "What?"

"Don't you want to go have dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You're not going to refuse to eat again are you?" Juliet said with a grin.

"Juliet I'm not in the mood right now ok?"

"Will you at least come back to camp?"

Jack seemed to think about it and he finally stood up. Without saying anything he started to walk back, and Juliet matched his pace, trying to put her arm around Jack's.

Jack shoved her away. "Would you leave me alone? Stop trying to touch me all of the time. It's annoying."

"What's going on Jack?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

"Well when we get back to camp, why don't you go in your tent, and I'll tell everyone to leave you alone. How does that sound?"

Jack nodded.

"Are you mad at me Jack?"

Jack was mad at her, but he wasn't quite sure why. He knew why he was feeling the way he was. Kate had totally crushed him, as if he hadn't already been crushed enough and yet he didn't feel angry with her at all. That didn't mean that he wasn't upset with her, but he felt no hatred towards her, and yet here he hated Juliet for no reason.

"I just need to be alone."

They got to camp and Jack went into his tent and laid down, knowing that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night.

A/N: that was fun to write. Jack and Kate should have more fights.. For those of you wondering, this story is far from over.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: So this chapter has some skate in it, but I hope you don't mind. Thank you for the reviews!

Kate walked to her tent in frustration, hoping no one would stop her, and no one did. She sat in her tent and tried to relax, but she couldn't.

She laid down and closed her eyes, not wanting to ever get up. But soon Sawyer burst in her tent.

"Well there you are! For a second there I had thought that you had disappeared!" Sawyer sat down beside her still form and Kate reluctantly lifted her arm off her eyes, knowing that he would probably see that she had been crying.

"What's wrong Freckles?"

"I'm just stressed. I don't feel that great."

Sawyer became concerned. He put a hand to her forehead and noticed that it felt hotter than usual. "Maybe you should go see Jack." He reluctantly suggested.

"No!" Kate quickly said.

Sawyer raised his eyebrows. "Is there something that you're not telling me Freckles?"

"No. I just don't want to bother Jack right now. I heard that he was tired."

"Well he looked mighty fine to me a few minutes ago swinging hands with Juliet."

Kate's eyes widened but she tried to hide her surprise.

"Well, well, well, there is something that you're hiding from me!"

"No there's not. " Kate quickly sat up, knowing she had to fix this before it got out of hand. She put her hand on Sawyer's, which had been resting on his leg. "I don't feel good. I wouldn't hide anything from you." Kate looked at him deeply.

Sawyer nodded." I trust you."

Kate's heart skipped a beat. Sawyer trusted her. That meant a lot to her. She wouldn't ever want to break his trust so she decided right then and there to not ever hurt Sawyer.

Sawyer leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Now will you stay with me in my tent tonight so I can watch you? I don't know why you don't want to go near the Doc, but I'm taking care of you."

"I just don't want to trouble Jack. He has too much on his hands."

"So will you stay with me tonight?" Sawyer asked again

Sawyer had wanted Kate to move in with him ever since they had gotten back, but Kate had refused. She felt that if she moved in with him that it would destroy her freedom. She knew couples typically stayed together, but she used Charlie and Claire as an example. It hadn't done much good though.

"Okay fine." Kate gave in.

"Okay." Sawyer stood and picked Kate up.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked as she clung to his neck.

"I'm taking you to my tent. My castle awaits you." He said sarcastically.

Kate laughed. "Right."

She tried to get him to put her down, but he wouldn't hear of it so she just hoped no one would see her but it turned out that the whole camp had decided to watch the stars that night so most of the camp watched Sawyer take her across to his tent, which happened to be on the other side of the camp, and on the way they passed Jack's tent, and Kate stayed quiet, hoping Sawyer would too, but he didn't.

"Since you refuse to see the Doc I'm going to let you have a little house visit."

"No Sawyer please."

"What's up with you and him?"

"Why do you care?" Kate retaliated.

"Because it concerns me if you still have feelings for the guy." Sawyer looked at her seriously. Kate swallowed hard. Here they were in front of Jack's tent, and she knew that the only way that Sawyer would continue on was if she gave him an answer. So she decided to give him a somewhat honest answer.

"Jack and I don't get along. That's all. We are too different. Things have changed. I would just rather not talk to him. "

"Really?" Sawyer seemed happy.

"Yes." Kate wondered if Jack was listening from inside.

"You guys didn't seem to be different from each other when you had that conversation on the way back here." Sawyer said doubtfully.

"Well we are. Why can't you just trust me?" Kate looked at him meaningfully and he got the point.

"Okay I trust you." Sawyer continued moving." I guess the Doc will just have to wait for tomorrow." Sawyer grinned. He couldn't help it. He loved doing this kind of stuff. If Kate and Jack weren't getting along, then Sawyer could really push Jack's buttons by forcing him to see Kate, and Sawyer was going to be sure to be there to show Jack just how happy of a couple he and Kate were together.

"Sawyer!" Kate protested.

"Fine. We'll see what happens."

Sawyer gently set Kate down on his bed, and pushed her over a little so that he could fit on it too.

Kate watched him carefully.

"What?" Sawyer asked.

"I don't know." Kate felt so weird with Sawyer lying right beside her. Why couldn't she just move on and be happy? It was bothering her. She tried to sort it out, but her head was killing her. Maybe she really was sick.

"I hope you feel better." Sawyer kissed her on the forehead.

"Me too." Kate murmured. Kate reached for his hand and he squeezed hers back as Sawyer fell asleep.

It was a quiet night as everyone slept peacefully in the camp, everyone but two people. Two people that knew that their hearts belonged to each other but were too scared to admit it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: I did a Jack/Sun conversation this chapter, which I really wanted to do. So I hope you like it!

A few days past, and slowly Jack found it a bit easier to live as he continued on helping people and working with others. Juliet seemed to constantly be by his side, and Jack was trying to figure out why it annoyed him so much.

Jack was currently talking to Sun, who was starting to show that she was pregnant. She couldn't be happier though and Jack was happy for her.

"You're doing great. The baby will be fine as long as you don't go on any more missions like you did with Sayid."

Sun smiled and looked down. Jack had come to see her while she had been working on her garden. Jack was trying to get away from Juliet, and he decided that going to see Sun would work, and it had.

"Can I tell you something Jack?"

"Of course."

Sun avoided Jack's gaze as she talked. "When I was on the boat, alone, I shot one of them."

"That was you?"

Sun nodded and she spoke slowly. "Did you find out her name?"

Jack didn't talk for a second, and Sun patiently waited. "I tried to fix her. They wanted me too. I wasn't able to though. Her name was Colleen."

Sun closed her eyes. "So she died?"

Jack didn't say anything.

Sun opened her eyes and Jack saw that they were filled with tears. "It wasn't your fault Sun, she would have killed you, or worse, taken you. They might have hurt your baby if you had been taken. Those people are pure evil, and they don't care about us. Just talk to Kate and Sawyer and they will tell you."

"I know, I just feel terrible about it." Sun looked at Jack and Jack looked comfortingly at her.

"Jack, can I ask you why Kate and Sawyer are suddenly together and you've decided to be with one of them?"

Jack didn't answer, surprised by the sudden change in subject.

"Juliet is good. She's headstrong, and she's manipulative, but she's good."'

Sun raised an eyebrow and Jack laughed. "Yeah I know, it sounds weird."

"Not as weird as how you've been acting towards Kate. Why have you been acting so cold towards her?"

"Kate loves Sawyer. That's all there is to it. I'm merely leaving them alone."

"Do you love her?" Sun asked, meeting his eyes. "Because I know from experience Jack. If you love her, you shouldn't let anything, anything get in the way of that."

"Unless she doesn't love me." Jack smiled sadly and looked down. A couple of seconds later he stood up. "Thanks Sun."

"For what?"

"For just talking to me. A lot of people just want me to diagnose their problems and then they go away. "

"Well I care about you Jack. You've been there for everyone. I just want to see you happy."

Jack nodded as he walked away. It had been a long time since he had been truly happy, and he knew that he wasn't going to be happy for a long time.

It had been two days since Sawyer noticed that Kate had a fever, and she wasn't getting any better. She had gotten worse. She repeatedly refused to see Jack, but now he was going to get him since there was no way that Kate could stop him now.

Jack had just gotten back from seeing Sun when Sawyer approached him.

"Hey Doc."

"Sawyer." Jack didn't even look up at him as he continued to work on the medical tent.

"So how've you been?'

Jack looked up at Sawyer for a second before looking down again. "What do you want?"

"It's about Kate."

"What she's too good for you?" Jack muttered.

"No we're doin' fine. But she's not. She's sick."

"Sick." Jack tried to pretend like he didn't care. He suddenly realized why he had been doing better. He actually hadn't seen Kate in the last two days.

"Don't you want to know what's she's got?"

"Sawyer, I'll ask you one more time. What do you want?"

" I want you to come check on her! She's been running a fever for the past two days and she can't even get out of bed now. She's been asleep for over ten hours and I can't get her to wake up."

Now Jack was paying full attention to Sawyer. "Why didn't you come get me earlier?"

"Kate didn't want me to, and I actually respect her wishes." Sawyer looked at Jack in the eyes.

Jack had heard the conversation between Sawyer and Kate the other night outside his tent the day of their argument, and now he fully understood it.

"Well let's go see her." Jack said.

Jack walked out of the tent and headed for Kate's but Sawyer stopped him. "She's in my tent."

Jack could tell that Sawyer was bragging.

They reached Sawyer's tent and Jack went inside. The first thing he noticed was that Kate was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing the last time he had seen her.

He walked over to her and checked her pulse. It was ok. He checked her head and quickly pulled his hand back in surprise. "You should have gotten me earlier." Jack hissed at Sawyer as he checked her eyes.

Sawyer didn't say anything.

"Did she say what exactly was wrong with her?" Jack asked.

"No. Well she said she had a headache, and that she was stressed."

Jack squinted his eyes as he thought. "Well that could trigger a fever I guess if she was stressed enough. And not to mention the others could have done something to her."

Sawyer's eyes blazed at the thought of the others doing something to Kate. His Kate.

"It's all your fault." Sawyer accused Jack.

"What?"

"If you hadn't dragged all of us over there in the first place, we would have never gotten captured and Kate wouldn't have gotten sick."

"And you and Kate wouldn't have gotten together." Jack retorted, and Sawyer didn't miss the pain flash across his face.

Sawyer got quiet again, but then he suddenly walked out of the tent and Jack didn't have to think long before he figured out where he was going. Sawyer was going to go talk to Juliet.

Jack knelt beside Kate and watched her carefully.

"Oh Kate." He murmured.

Before he knew it, he was grabbing her hand with his. He took it and lifted it up to his lips as he kissed her hand.

"I'm so sorry." Jack's eyes filled with tears. He hated to think that he was the cause of this.

Jack tried to fight the lump in his throat as he sat there through blurred vision. For once in his life, he had no clue of how to fix this.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: I'm so sorry that I'm late in updating this. I've been kind of busy lately. Because of that I made this longer than usual.

Sawyer heatedly walked back into his tent and Jack quickly dropped Kate's hand, hoping Sawyer hadn't seen it. "What did she say?"

Sawyer looked at him in surprise. "How did you know?"

Jack shrugged.

"She insisted that they didn't do anything to her, but I don't believe her."

"For now we will just have to."

"That's it? You're not going to try to talk to her? This is Kate we're talking about! And Juliet's your girlfriend! She'd talk to you!"

"She's not my girlfriend." Jack said through gritted teeth. "You don't think I care? Of course I care. We don't have a lot of time to waste here. I'm going to go get some water."

Jack walked out of the tent and headed for Juliet. "What did you do to her?"

"What?" Juliet stood up from her spot in the sand.

"You heard me. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Did any of the Others do anything to her at all?"

"Not to my knowledge no."  
"Not to your knowledge? You knew everything that happened."

"Not everything."

"Juliet please."

"I told you that you loved her." Juliet said triumphantly.

"Does that make you happy Juliet?"

"No. It just proves my point."

Jack sighed and walked over to the water. He dipped the bottle in, and then he cupped his hands and splashed water on his face.

He approached Sawyer's tent but stopped right outside when he heard Sawyer talking to Kate.

"It's okay Freckles. Jack's gonna make you better and then we're gonna go to that waterfall I've been talkin' about."

Jack sighed again as he walked in. "Juliet says they didn't do anything."

"Do you believe her?"

"I want to, but I can't." Jack moved towards Kate and put some water on a rag. "We're just going to have to do our best."

Jack gently patted the rag on Kate's face, neck, and arms.

"Well what are you going to do?" Sawyer asked.

"I don't know."

"For being a doctor you sure don't know much. Are you sure you got a degree?"

"You know what Sawyer? I'm trying my best. Has it occurred to you that I am a spinal surgeon? I was never meant to do this kind of stuff!"

"Oh that's real comforting Jacko. Next the firefighters are gonna say that they only know how to drive a truck!"

Jack shook his head in frustration.

Sawyer changed his tone, knowing that getting angry at Jack wasn't going to help anything. "Look you know this stuff. I know you Jack. You're going to fix Kate and you're not going to stop until you do."

Jack slowly looked up at Sawyer. Sawyer was the first person in a long time that had told him that he had faith in Jack. Jack tried to hide how much it meant to him. "Well thanks for the vote of confidence but right now that doesn't help much if I don't know what's truly wrong with her."

Sawyer nodded and his gaze fell upon Kate. He hated to think that the Others had done something to her, but it was very likely that they had.

Juliet paced in front of her tent. The Others had done something to Kate, and Juliet was the only way that Kate would get better. She just had to decide whether to do it or not. She only had a few hours to decide before Kate would die. She knew that Jack loved Kate, and if Kate would die, then Jack would probably want to die too. If Kate lived, then there was a chance that this experience would have changed both Kate and Jack and then they would probably admit their feelings to each other, which meant that the plan to get Jack back to the other island wouldn't work out. Juliet had always known that Jack didn't truly love her. Now Juliet had to decide between doing the right thing, or doing the easy thing.

"Are you sure that there's nothing else that you can do?" Sawyer asked nervously. It was an hour later, and no matter what Jack did, Kate showed no sign of waking up.

Jack put a hand to his forehead as he thought. He didn't understand why this was so hard for him, actually he did know why. Kate meant so much to him and he didn't want anything to happen to her.

"We need Sun." Jack looked up. "Go get Sun."

"Why?"

"Herbal remedies. She might know one."

"Why do I have to go?"

"Because I will know what to do if Kate wakes up."

Sawyer sighed and walked out of the tent. That was the chance that Juliet had been looking for.

Jack looked up as she walked in.

"Okay. My people did do something to Kate. They put a poison in her that wouldn't start working for a long period of time."

"What? Why?" Jack demanded as Juliet sat down beside him.

Juliet shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. You hurt her. You hurt Kate."

"Dharma. That's all you need to know."

"So how do we fix it?"

Juliet pulled something out of her pocket. "It's a antidote." She started to move towards Kate to put it in her through her wrist, but Jack pulled her hand back.

"How do I know you're not lying and this is the poison that you're going to put in her?"

"Jack you need to trust me. I'm going against my people here. If I don't put this in Kate, she's going to die in less than a couple of hours. "

"Trust you? I don't know if I can't trust you anymore Juliet."

"Just trust me on this one okay?"

"So I should only trust you on the one person that means the most to me?"

"Jack I never meant for it to go this far. You were just supposed to come and fix Ben, and then he had promised to let you go, but then he changed his mind. I'm sorry. I was supposed to get you to want to come back, but now I know that there is nothing from stopping you. You will never stop loving this woman, and I know that she loves you. I just don't want another relationship to get ruined." With that Juliet stuck the needle into Kate. "She should wake up in a couple of minutes."

Juliet stood up and started walking for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked her.

"I'm going home. I can't stay here Jack."

Jack stood up and walked towards her. "But.. what about us?"

Juliet smiled. "Don't pretend that you care for me. I always knew you didn't. I was just a diversion to make you get attracted to me so that you would want to come back. I knew that it wasn't going to work, and it didn't."

"What will happen to you?"

Juliet sighed. "I don't really know, but I can't stay here."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Juliet nodded and left.

Jack stood there, stunned for a second, not sure of what to do, when he faintly heard his name.

He turned around and noticed that Kate was awake, staring at him.

"Kate!" Jack rushed to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible. My head is killing me."

"I can get you some medicine for that."'

Kate stared at him and he stared back at her.

"What happened?"

Jack filled her in quickly and Kate looked away.

"I knew they put something in me that day, and ever since I haven't felt that great, but it really caught up to me."

"You should have told me sooner. I could have helped."

"No you couldn't have." Kate said softly.

Jack looked down.

"Where's Sawyer?"

Jack looked up at her again. "He went to get Sun. He'll be back soon."

Kate nodded. "Don't you have more important people to attend to?"

"Nope." Jack ginned slightly. "My assistant cleared my schedule for the day so I'm good."

"And who's your assistant?"

"Me."

Kate smiled. "You really need to get better management."

Jack laughed but soon the tent became silent again.

"Kate. I'm sorry for-"

Sawyer and Sun walked into the tent. "I got her." Sawyer said.

Jack and Kate looked up. "She's okay."

"Kate!" Sawyer walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "What happened?"

Kate looked at Jack. "He fixed me."

"How'd you do that?" Sawyer asked him.

Jack's eyes widened. He hadn't fixed her, and she knew that. So why was she saying that? He only shrugged and Sawyer was content with the answer.

"Jack?" Sun said quietly.

Jack turned to her. "If you don't need me for anything else then I'm going to go all right?"

Jack nodded, deciding that he was going to leave then too.

"If anything happens just let me know." Jack told Sawyer and then he left.

He spotted Juliet putting her backpack on and starting to walk towards the jungle.

"How are you going to get home?" Jack reached Juliet and walked alongside her.

Juliet smiled. "If I told you then I would have to kill you."

"What do you mean?"

"We have a underwater hatch that goes across to the other island."

"Wow. At least let me walk you to the opening."

"You can walk with me for a while, then I'm going to have to ask you to go back."

Jack nodded. "Will I ever see you again?'

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"Well you've been a good friend." Jack said.

Juliet smiled. "I wish we could have been more, but you love Kate a lot more than we thought."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Tell her how you feel. She'll listen."

"I don't think so, but thanks."

Juliet stopped. "Okay. I'll have to ask you to go back now."

"So this is it then."

"Goodbye Jack."

"Yeah. Bye." Jack watched her walk away and then Jack walked back alone.

A/N: Yes I know kind of a blah ending, but there's only two more chapters so you guys can guess about what's coming.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: These last two chapters are kind of fluffy. Thanks for the reviews. And LOST is coming back!! All is right with the world again! lol!

A couple days later Kate sat on the beach. She was doing a lot better and things had gone back to normal. Everyone had learned that Juliet had gone back, and it had made Kate feel a lot better that she was gone. Jack had stayed away from Kate other than checking on her a couple of times. Kate wanted to talk to him, but was afraid of what he would say. She really did love him, but he didn't seem to want to talk to her.

"So what's going on?"

Kate looked up and saw that Hurley was standing there.

"Hey Hurley. Want to sit down?" Kate smiled at him.

"Sure. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. I'm feeling a lot better. How are you?"

"I'm doing good too. Listen, I was thinking, now that Juliet is gone, you have your chance."

"My chance?"

"I think you didn't ever talk to Jack because you thought that he loved Juliet, but now that you know the truth, you should talk to him."

"Jack and I talk."

Hurley gave her a look.

"Okay fine. Things are a little different now Hurley. I'm with Sawyer. Things happened over with the Others."

"They can't be that different. I mean, nothing could ever separate you two when we first crashed here. And then things happened and you weren't speaking, then you went on that trek and you were fine again, and then you three got kidnapped, and you weren't fine again. You two need to stop doing that."

"Jack and I haven't been fine in a long time. I'm sorry Hurley but that's the way it is."

"I don't think so." Hurley stood up and walked away.

"Hurley? What are you doing?" Kate watched him go up the beach and realized that he was going into Jack's tent. Charlie emerged and shook his head at Hurley. Hurley went into Jack's tent and she realized that Charlie was coming for her.

Kate laughed and shook her head as she looked back at the ocean.

"Hey Kate."

"I know why you're here Charlie."

"Then why don't we stop the chit chatting and get straight to the point."

"And what's the point?"

"You and Jack need to talk so that you can get together."

"Why are you so bent on Jack and I getting together?"

"Because it's fate. Claire believes it. Ask her."

"Fate?"

"You two have to be together." Charlie nodded.

Kate felt Charlie's arms snaking around her as he pulled her up.

"What are you doing?"

"Come on." Charlie tried to pick up Kate, but then they both fell in the sand and they both burst out laughing.

Charlie stood up again and Kate stood up as well. "Okay I'm up. Don't try to pick me up again."

Charlie took Kate's arm and dragged her along with him.

Kate started to protest." Charlie this is stupid. Jack doesn't care about me."

"Oh yes he does."

Then Kate looked at Jack's tent and couldn't believe what she saw.

Hurley was attempting to pick up Jack, but he was failing miserably.

"You're going to her no matter how much you fight back!" Hurley declared as he picked Jack up with all his might and placed him over his shoulder.

"You got Kate?" Hurley asked Charlie as they came closer together.

"What does it look like?"

Hurley nodded with a serious expression. "Okay."

"Put me down." Jack's voice was muffled.

Kate couldn't help but laugh as Hurley tried to set Jack down gently but ended up dropping him.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Just as long as he doesn't ever do that again."

"Well if you two would talk we promise we won't ever do that again." Charlie said.

They all became silent as Jack stood up.

"Come with us." Hurley said.

Jack looked at Kate. "Do you know what they're doing?'

"No." Kate shook her head.

Hurley and Charlie leaded them to Jack's tent and made them go inside. Charlie told them that they weren't allowed to come out until things were settled. They walked into the tent and stared at each other, not sure of what to say.

A/N: The next chapter is the last chapter. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Fate09/01/2007 09:40:00

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST.

A/N: I think you guys are going to like this, as it's a bit different… well at least I hope you like it. lol! Oh and there's some Claire/Charlie at the end so I hope you don't mind. This chapter is very fluffy just to warn you.

"Well we've got some very determined friends." Jack said as they stood staring at each other inside the tent.

Kate nodded. "But they're very nice."

"Depends on what you mean by nice." Jack smiled and Kate ducked her head.

"I'm glad you're feeling better Kate."

Kate slowly looked up at Jack again. "I'm so sorry Jack. I don't really know what to say about you seeing me with Sawyer. I was upset, and I was scared, and he was there. You weren't. You scared me even more Jack, the way you were yelling and-"

"Hey." Jack watched Kate's eyes fill with tears. "I understand. He was there. He's a really good guy. I know that now. I've watched him with you. The way he treats you, it's the way a guy should treat you."

"But you don't understand. I'm sorry. You were there for me all along, and I never saw it. I felt so horrible about leaving you there Jack. I really thought that I was never going to see you again. Then you showed up here and, I don't know I just… don't know."

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again either. It was so hard to let you go. But I'm here now, and things are back to normal. And Juliet's gone. "

"Jack why were you with her? I never trusted her."

"I don't know. I never really loved her."

"What?"

Jack shrugged and looked away. "I guess I was looking for someone else to replace you. I should have known better though." Jack bit his lip as he continued to avoid Kate's gaze.

"Jack I don't understand."

"What's there to understand? You're with Sawyer, and I'm alone. It's fine. I'm glad that you're finally happy."

"What?"

"Look I can't stay here anymore." Jack turned and walked out of the tent, ignoring Charlie and Hurley. He got about half way across the beach before Kate started yelling at him.

"Hey!"

Jack stopped but didn't turn around.

"You're a idiot!"

"What?" Jack turned around and stared at her tearful face.

"I love you!!! Don't you get it?! You're the one that I want!" Kate was shouting at him as Jack started to back away, feeling like this was a lot like the first time that they had kissed.

"You made me leave you! I had to leave you, thinking that I was leaving you to die with them. I needed you! I've missed you so much! Why can't you get that into your head that I need you? Stop with the 'Sawyer's a good guy stuff.' Sawyer's not you, and no one could ever replace you in my heart, so stop acting like it!" Kate stared at Jack, only a few inches away, as Jack stared back at her.

"Kate-"

Kate took the last step to make them as close as possible , and then she brought her hand up and slapped him.

Jack's eyes widened as he continued to stare at Kate, his eyes watering.

"I love you Jack Shephard. Don't ever make me leave you again." Kate swallowed as tears continued to fall down her face.

Jack tenderly took his hand and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Kate. I love you too."

"Really?" Kate closed her eyes as she put her hand over Jack's that was still resting on her cheek.

"Forever." Jack grabbed her with a fiery passion and their lips met as Jack's hands explored Kate's hair and Kate's hands wrapped around Jack's neck.

Hurley enveloped Charlie with a bear hug and they laughed and clapped as they danced with glee.

Finally Jack and Kate broke apart, gasping for air, but remaining in each other's arms. Kate leaned into Jack's embrace and clung to him, scared that it was dream and if she opened her eyes he wouldn't really be there, and for a second she really did wonder and she quickly opened her eyes, and to her relief it was Jack who was giving her tiny kisses along her neck. She met his lips again and they were off in another world.

"Well." Charlie and Hurley stood together, out of breath from the dancing.

"I think I'm going to find Claire." Charlie said, his eyes widening.

"Jack's got some moves on him doesn't he." Hurley grinned.

"Oh yeah."

"So what about Sawyer?" Hurley asked.

"Uh oh." Charlie looked behind him and saw Sawyer staring at the scene in front of him.

"Sorry dude." Hurley said to Sawyer and Sawyer nodded. For once in his life, he didn't know what to say.

Sawyer walked towards the kissing couple. "Get a room already."

Jack and Kate quickly broke apart and stared at Sawyer, both of them gasping for breath.

"Jeez Doc. You just might have to resuscitate her."

Jack tried to hide the smile that was fighting its way to his face.

"Sawyer. I'm sorry. It's just, something's missing when I'm with you. Do you know what I mean? I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Sawyer nodded. "Yeah I'm sorry too, but I understand. I always knew that it wouldn't last. Kate always had something for you Doc. No matter what she always cared for you more."

Jack looked down, not sure of what to say.

"I took care of her for you." Sawyer grinned and shrugged. "I can tell you that much. Take care of her Doc."

He walked away, and Kate stared at Jack as Jack stared at Sawyer's back.

"I think that went well." Jack told her.

Kate gave him a sad smile. "It's true, I have always cared about you."

"I've always cared about you too. Just do me a favor Kate."

"What's that?"

"Don't ever slap me again unless I deserve it."

"You deserved it that time to get you to think again."

Jack nodded. "Yeah I know."

"But yes I promise. I would never hurt you on purpose."

"Unless I deserved it." Jack added.

"Right now you deserve something else." Kate said softly.

"And what's that?"

Kate kissed his cheek. "You deserved that, and you deserved this." Kate kissed his lips.

Jack laughed. "I think I get your point."

"Do you want me to stop?" Kate raised an eyebrow.

"No."

"Okay."

Charlie and Hurley smiled as they watched the two walk down the beach, stopped every two seconds to kiss again.

"Hurley? I think our job here is done." Charlie and Hurley shook hands and Charlie left Hurley to find Claire at her tent.

"Hey Claire."

"Charlie." Claire smiled at him as Charlie reached her and gave her a hug.

"Well that's nice." Claire said.

"So you know that fate thing we were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Well Hurley and I interfered, and it worked."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jack and Kate are together."

"No they're not."

"You wanna come look?" Charlie took Claire's hand and they walked down the beach and Claire gasped as she watched Jack and Kate hugging and kissing.

"Well a few minutes ago they were walking together but apparently that wasn't close enough for them." Charlie said.

"You're right Charlie. It was fate that you and Hurley helped." Claire agreed.

"Now let's join them," Charlie grinned.

"What?"

"I think we should go on a double date!"

"Let's stay right here and leave them alone." Claire pulled Charlie to her as they kissed.

Jack and Kate finally realized what had been missing all along and they both were finally happy. Claire was right. It was fate that Jack and Kate were going to end up together, no matter what difficulties came along the way.

A/N: I am always horrible at endings. Too fluffy right? Gosh what's wrong with me? lol! –hides from angst lovers- LOST is on tonight! Yippee!


End file.
